One of the most popular accessories for light duty trucks and recreational vehicles is a truck box used to store and secure a variety of tools and other items. There are a number of different types of truck boxes currently available including cross-over boxes, sidemount boxes, chest boxes, topmount boxes, RV boxes, and others. Each truck box is typically formed of aluminum treadplate, and comprises a front wall, back wall, bottom wall and opposed end walls which are interconnected by welding to form a hollow interior. The box is closed by a top wall or lid pivotal on a hinge between an open position and a closed position.
Gas springs are commonly employed in truck boxes to assist with lifting of the top lid to an open position, and, to maintain the lid in such open position during use. In most single lid truck box designs, a gas spring is located adjacent each of the end walls of the truck box to provide sufficient lifting force for the top lid. One end of each gas spring is mounted to a vertically extending partition or to the end wall itself, and the opposite end of each gas spring is mounted to the top lid. Additionally, many truck box designs incorporate a tool holder, for screwdrivers and the like, which is located adjacent one or both of the end walls.
One disadvantage of current truck box designs, particularly cross-over type boxes, involves the fabrication of the end walls. In both single lid and double lid cross-over truck boxes, each end wall comprises an upper vertical section and a lower vertical section which are welded to the bottom wall, and to the front and back walls, to close the ends of the truck box. The upper and lower vertical sections are interconnected by a horizontal section which extends over the side rail of the truck bed when the box is mounted in place on the vehicle. Within the interior of the cross-over box, a separate vertical partition is mounted to the horizontal section, which, in the case of single lid boxes, receives one end of the gas spring. A separate horizontal section or plate carried by the vertical partition and/or lower vertical section forms the tool holder.
All of the sections and plates noted above are individual pieces which must be separately formed, welded together, and then welded to the front, back and/or bottom walls, in order to form the completed truck box. This construction substantially adds to the cost of fabrication both in terms of the number of separate pieces which must be formed and stocked by the box manufacturer, and the labor required to perform all of the individual welding operations on both end walls of each truck box.